Notre Dame Cathedral credit: Mike Streich

St.Denis in Paris photo by Streich

 Gothic cathedrals Date: May 16, 2018 Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.  The rise of the Gothic form began in the mid 12th century. Gothic cathedrals, often taking decades to construct, began to appear in cities and towns throughout Europe, although French cathedrals like Amiens and Notre Dame in Paris are some of the finest and most spectacular of these great houses of worship. Gothic cathedrals served many purposes beyond their chief function as seats of local bishops and archbishops. 

 Gothic cathedrals were the visual representation of God’s kingdom and, as such, provided spiritual education to the illiterate masses. They also functioned as the hub of town commerce and characterized civic pride. Gothic cathedrals are still used as active churches today, allowing Christians to worship and celebrate their faith amidst the supreme expression of Medieval piety.

 Gothic architecture changed during the three phases: early Gothic (late 12th and early 13th centuries in France (Notre-Dame in Paris and the Carthes Cathedral), classical Gothic peak around 1220 (Reims Cathedral and Cathedral in Amiens) late Gothic (14th and 1st decades of 15th century throughout Europe). Gothic architecture or style (lat: Gothicus: belonging to Goths) was originally concealed by the name Giorgio Vasari who wanted to say that, from the point of view of the Italian Renaissance, that style was barbaric.

 Gothic Cathedrals as a Spiritual Story Book During the Middle Ages, most Europeans were illiterate peasants. Their daily lives revolved around the Church, from when they arose in the morning until sunset. Life on earth was merely a brief sojourn in the overall working of God’s plan. This message was constantly reinforced by the sculptures, stained glass windows, relics, and other adornments found in Gothic cathedrals.

 Depictions of the saints and Apostles, Old and New Testament stories, and Church doctrine like the final judgment comprised the images on the stained glass windows as well as outdoor and indoor sculptures and carvings. Alfons Dierick, in his book on the windows at Chartres Cathedral, states that “the faithful ‘read’ the stained glass windows.” Additionally, the cathedral as a total structure was a microcosm of God’s universal kingdom and the cosmology of Medieval theology. Dierick comments that the Gothic cathedral was an “image of light, strength and repose, symbolic of the faith of the Middle Ages.”

 In most cases, cathedrals were dedicated to “our lady,” the Virgin Mary depicted as both the Queen of Heaven as well as the most exalted of females, chosen to be the mother of Christ. The Cathedral as a Commercial Hub Still today European cathedrals serve as market areas, their squares frequently filled with vendors. This is most evident in November and December when Christmas markets appear in many cities and towns under the shadows of cathedral spires. The cathedral was tied to town and city revenue in many ways during the Middle Ages.

 All great cathedrals displayed holy relics. Because pilgrimage was a key element of Medieval religious practices, churches that held important relics became key destinations, bringing in thousands of pilgrims that spent money in the town. In 1087, merchants from the Italian city of Bari forcibly stole the remains of St. Nicholas of Myra in Asia Minor. This action increased the popularity and prosperity of Bari. Cathedral chapters, charged with the cathedral revenues, often held financial stakes in local merchant enterprises. This was true at Amiens and Cologne as well as a number of other cathedral towns. 

Other Benefits of Gothic Cathedrals Basilica of St Denis. Photo credited by Michael Streich Basilica of St Denis.  The draw of Gothic cathedrals came from their immensity as well as their interior beauty, enhanced by the myriad of stained glass windows, an art that can be traced to St. Denis in Paris in 1146 and the brilliant planning and facilitation of the Abbot Suger. Beyond the spiritual education of peasants and towns folk, cathedrals, like Notre Dame de Paris, became associated with some of the earliest universities. Cathedral “schools” had been around as early as Charlemagne, who established a school run by English Benedictines at the Aachen Cathedral, Germany’s first cathedral. 

But in the High Middle Ages, early universities often began as an extension of cathedral ministries, such as the University at Paris. Gothic cathedrals played a significant role in the urban, social, and economic development of European towns and cities. They still stand today and function as active churches.

 Sources:

 Rosalind and Christopher Brooke, Popular Religion in the Middle Ages: Western Europe 1000-1300 (Thames and Hudson, 1984)

 Alfons Dierick, The Stained Glass at Chartres (Berne: Hallwag Ltd., 1960)

 Andrew Martindale, Gothic Art From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967)

 By: Mike Streich

Read more at: https://www.shorthistory.org/middle-ages/church-in-the-middle-ages/gothic-cathedrals/  

Joe Biden should not go to the Middle East. The world already knows we support Israel. Additionally, as the humanitarian crisis balloons into a nearly impossible problem, the world will judge Israel for permitting a greater human disaster while obliterating Hamas. And that is a good thing. Hamas is a terrorist organization and needs to be obliterated. Like ISIS and like El Quida. But, It is too dangerous for President Biden to shuttle between Arab leaders.

The question remains: what to do with an entire population who, according to history, were originally driven from their homeland two generations ago and funneled into Gaza City, an urban interpretation of a concentration camp. As the vernacular saying states: what goes around comes around. And that will be the long term historical trajedy.

When my friend come from Charlotte to Winston Salem to take me to the Medical Center for a procedure, we always end by stopping at Cagney's restaurant on Stratford Road. Cagney's is one of those city legends with incarnations sprouted up in Winston Salem bording towns. It is comfort food done really well and the menu can only be described as all inclusive, enough to give any northern diner a run for the money.

Our meal of choice is, invariably, the perennial special, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy with your choice of two sides, usually cold or hot vegetables. additionally, you can select corn broad, a regular roll, or toast.For us, this is a meal made in heaven and very seldom duplicated anywhere.  

At one point Cagney's was competing with the Cloverdale Kitchen, also a legendary eatery steeped in tradition and engraved in the culinary memories of hundreds of patrons. Cloverdale particularly did vegetable soup right and sold it by the quarts. but the owners, sons of early Greek founders. saw business falling off in the later afternoon and evening and so decided to close after the noon lunch rush.

Cagney's which sits at the bottom of the sloping shopping center is always full. Across town, on Reynolda Road, Mamma Zoe's is another superb comfort food establishment, refurbished after the start of the pandemic to allow for more patron space.  The wait times still see many folks, most elderly, patiently waiting for tables. 

They wait because the food is excellent, affordable, and memorable. Desserts  are large and plentiful and it is quite impossible to leave hungry from Mamma Zoe's.

And every establishment uses delivery services or encourages patron pick-up.

Every city had it's specially known fast food joints that leave you satisfied and clamoring for more. But few leave a lasting impressions based on the menu, the fast service and the down home welcoming atmosphere. It is part of southern history. Every town had at least one place, often doubling at a pharmacy or all-purpose store that had a lunch counter or tables to accommodate the hungry wanderers. 

My friend wish, all the time, that Cagney's would open a restaurant in Charlotte. But is is not yet that regional. We hope that it will someday be so,  

 It doesn't do any good to complain, even to oneself. History has ceased to be a major concern for most Americans and even our key leaders, like former President Trump, often get it wrong. But then, who cares that we didn't have airports in the Revolutionary War? Try fully explaining the Boston Tea Party to students whose ONLY reference to tea is southern style sweet ice tea! One wrote, on a quiz, the Indians poured buckets and buckets of tea into Boston Harbor.

History teaching has taken backseat to other disciplines that seem to make more sense like science, math, and even aviation. But, what happened a hundred years ago or five hundred years ago will come back to haunt us. Paul Kennedy, in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers,all but predicted that world powers rise and fall based on many different factors, including economic ones.

I was a history teacher, instructor and, according to my community college chairperson, an adjunct professor. Now I wonder why I entered education half way through a life career as an unsuccessful businessperson. Maybe I was living a life long dream that flowed from my history-loving father and a German family with deep ties to World War II.

There is much talk today about the decline of the American Republic, perhaps a parallel story to Ancient Rome. Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was contemporary in it's publication to the precious documents that set up the American democratic experiment. President Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address asked if this nation would endure.

I would have enjoyed teaching until my body fully gave out. But I was stopped by a former student who accused me of misconduct. It was his word against mine, even though I was out of the country when the so-called indiscretion took place. I took it all as a sign. The church school did not support me.

Then in 2011 I became incapacitated with a major heart attack, fatty liver disease, and a host of other ailments like COPD and kidney dysfunction. My saintly mother passed in September 2012. She had always been my support.

I wrote history. Over 1500 articles for an on-line Canadian group out of Vancouver. But by 2013 they too found themselves bankrupt and relegated to the pits of Internet limbo. But, I still think getting the message out is vitally important: History matters! Perhaps more now than ever before.

It is Saturday and I wake up to news about a major Hamas Strike against Israel. And, secondarily, a 6 point earthquake in Afghanistan. All over the globe conflicts loom and, of course, the Ukraine war is still in brutal swing. But now Israel. And, here on Saturday there is no news, just football games. I enjoy sports as much as anyone, but how can sports mask the reality of bloodshed all over the world.

President Biden promised solidarity. We support Israel. But there will never be lasting peace in the Middle East, at least not as long as we prefer football over tanks and missiles. And only last night I re-watched the 1977 film, Black Sunday with Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern.

Israel should remind us that history repeats. Whether it is the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem or Titus destroying the city hundreds of years later, history repeats and we dare not forget it. I have been to the Forum Romanum and seen the arches, the trophies of long past wars. The monuments of the past, even our American relatively short past, stand around us and we debate their on going relevance and value.

Was Robert E Lee a brilliant general of a war criminal, a traitor? Debates about simple grey clad soldiers carved in stone or displayed in bronze, feed our frenzy to erase history. Everyone has a good reason. Regardless, history matters. One hundred years ago history will still matter, even if human beings live under domes to survive.

And we will never learn from history. As fascinating as the study can be, it is eventually buried like the civilizations of early Mesopotamia, covering the lie that somehow human beings have solved the questions of war and peace, good and evil.